The Knights of Shathar
"Stalk the shadows. Splinter the bone. Slice the flesh. Sable darkness is our home. Shathar waits! Shadows shall reign supreme!" -The first verse of the Spider's Book Stalking the shadows of hundreds of worlds, the Knights of Shathar satiate the thirst of their dark master through ritual sacrifice and slaughter. With their night-glaives and lunar-armor, the young cult end the lives of millions and enslave thousands, all for their goddess. The Weaver of Fate, the Spider in the Dark, the Mother of Spiders. Shathar. Origins Clouded in mystery, the origins of the Knights of Shathar vary from reality to reality. The rat people of Dimension Set 6Y believe the Knights to be a curse sent down from their Elder Gods, while the undead of Dimension Set 1W theorize that the Knights are immaterial beings from the stars. In truth, only the Knights themselves are aware of their origins. The Knights of Shathar were formed in Dimension Set 5S by a woman known as Asuka Shingetsu. Allegedly, she had come to a revelation that gave her mind knowledge that had been "hidden past the veils of sanity and reality". With this newfound knowledge, she forged the first set of lunar armor which would later be modified and become adopted as the uniform for the knights. Asuka lived in the highly populated city of Venin, as such, she was easily able to recruit and lure in new members. Within a week, she had convinced 15 people of the existence of the gods and lead them down a path of the occult and arcane. Their initial missions were focused on defacing religious buildings, statues, and other objects of importance. What would be left was some rubble and a flag of the Knights along with some graffiti stating why only Shathar is worthy of worship. Dealings with the Gestating Goddess The power of belief is indeed a strange force with inconsistent rules and miracles. However, the Knight's belief in their goddess proved to be powerful. So powerful was it, that Shathar's birth was assisted with their faith. The Spider Goddess had been gestating within a realm between other dimensions. Asuka dubbed it the Great Web. The gestating goddess engaged a series of dealings and conversations with Asuka through the knight's dreams. Through which, further knowledge of the strange and utterly eldritch kind was bestowed upon her. Shathar granted Asuka the knowledge to create horribly dangerous and unstable weapons and the ability to summon beings from other realms. As a result of their new armaments, the Knights of Shathar's missions became increasingly focused on destruction and terror. Entire cities were vandalized with blood and bone, and civilian deaths became more and more common. Concerned members of the Knights questioned Asuka but she assured them that it was all Shathar's will. Those that detested these actions requested to leave but Asuka's response was brutal and swift. They met her blade and their lives were quickly ended. All the while Shathar's form grew and materialized more and more.